PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today affirmed a jail sentence against a teenager who was found guilty for the murder of 23 people in a fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Tahfiz Centre in 2017.
The appellate court also dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the High Court's decision to acquit and discharge another teenager for the same offence without calling him to enter defence.
A three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk See Mee Chun said there was no reason for the court to interfere in the finding of the High Court judge on both teenagers.
"We found that there was no error in the decision by the lower court judge.
"The learned judge had evaluated all the evidence and made a correct finding in law and facts," he said.
On Aug 17, 2020, a juvenile offender was ordered to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after he was found guilty of the murder of 23 people in connection with the fire.
The court said the terms and condition of the teenager's detention was up to the pleasure of the King to determine from time to time.
The court, however, acquitted and discharged another person, also of the same age, who was charged with him, without calling for his defence.
The two of them were initially jointly charged with the murder but the charge was amended at the end of the prosecution case.
According to the amended charge, the teenager, together with another individual who had not been identified, was charged with murdering and causing the death of 23 inmates at the tahfiz centre at Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kampung Datuk Keramat, Wangsa Maju here, between 4.15am and 6.45am on Sept 14, 2017.
He was charged with 23 counts of murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
However, Section 97(1) of the Child Act 2001 states that a death sentence shall not be pronounced or recorded against a person convicted of an offence if the child is under the age of 18, and in lieu of the death sentence the court shall order the person to be detained at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
A total of 71 witnesses testified for the prosecution while six defence witnesses including the teenager were called to the stand in the trial which started on May 30, 2018.
The tragedy killed 21 students and two teachers as they were trapped on the third floor of the religious school's residential hostel.